(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for growing living organisms and, more particularly, to such an apparatus which is operable to promote the growth of living organisms, such as plant life, and to maintain such growth in a desired state of development, for a predetermined period of time, and/or with other operational parameters.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The growth of living organisms, including plant life, is essential to sustaining virtually all life forms. Plant life, for example, provides sustenance for humans, animals and other living organisms. Plant life, in part, uses carbon dioxide from its environment and, through photosynthesis, produces oxygen necessary for creating an atmosphere sufficient to permit all forms of life to be created and sustained.
In its natural form, plant life serves as food for animals, humans and a wide variety of other creatures and organisms. In addition, of course, plant life can be used, processed, or otherwise modified to form a multiplicity of products. Furthermore, new varieties of plant life are continuously being created both spontaneously in nature as well as by human experimentation, plant breeding and the like. Such plant breeding and discovery result both in new forms of plant life which can be employed in a multitude of uses as well as yielding new types of commodities produced thereby. Examples abound in the form of food products such as fruits, nuts, vegetables and the like, and new types of plant life employed for other uses such as in landscaping, construction, heating, medicine and virtually endless other uses.
Plant patents and other forms of protection are available in the United States and in other nations of the world under laws intended to promote the creation, discovery, experimentation and development of new forms or varieties of plant life.
Such creation, discovery, experimentation and development has led to the invention of new methods and apparatuses to assist in the achievement of these objectives. For example, throughout an extensive history, various hydroponic devices, systems and methods have been developed for these and other purposes. Hydroponics is, by definition, the cultivation of plant life in nutrient solution rather than in soil. The purposes for such technology include inexpensively and with a minimum of attention and care to produce and maintain superior specimens of plant life. Concomitantly, there has been a desire to create hydroponic systems which can be employed for virtually all forms of plant life.
Other considerations include the creation of hydroponic systems of virtually any capacity, whether large or small; of systems which can be employed using ambient light as well as, artificial light; which are readily controlled to accommodate changing conditions, both as to the environment in which they are used as well as to the changing requirements of the plant life as it is grown; and which achieve many other long recognized but unrealized objectives. These objectives have eluded achievement notwithstanding the development of various types of hydroponic systems virtually from the beginning of recorded history.
Thus, while some progress has been attained with such efforts, the success, particularly from a commercial standpoint, has been marginal. Without practical and dependable commercial application, true hydroponics has little value other than for limited scientific experimentation as in the case of a plant breeding programs. The production of seedlings for commercial planting is limited by the restricted capacity of conventional hydroponic systems. There is, thus, no prior art hydroponics system capable of providing a sufficient number of seedlings and/or plants necessary for practical commercial application. In summary in this respect, the prior art is replete with hydroponic systems incapable, as a practical matter, of being expanded to produce commercially viable yields.
Therefore, it has long been recognized that it would be desirable to have an apparatus for growing living organisms which is capable of producing commercially practical yields of superior quality plant life and other living organisms; which is operable to provide an optimum growing environment; which is operable to provide superior aeration of the fluid provided to the plant life or the like grown therein; which is operable to provide optimum nutrients in a manner most suited to the particular plant life to be grown; which permits modification thereof to accommodate the changing requirements of the plant life throughout its growth and maturation; which can readily be expanded to provide additional capacity or reduced in size to accommodate a particular desired capacity; which is adapted to provide improved operation in a hydroponic system; and which is otherwise entirely successful in achieving its operational objectives.